


Just to Bring You Home

by AnnieMantic



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 12:18:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieMantic/pseuds/AnnieMantic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After their final victory of the tournament, Seirin's basketball team is confused by the lack of celebration from their ace, and it's all down to his shadow to help bring him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just to Bring You Home

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a prompt by the awesome [wingroad](http://wingroad.tumblr.com/), who you should totally go and check out, she's pretty damn awesome. You can find the prompt [here](http://wingroad.tumblr.com/post/75572145006/the-game-ends-and-kagami-is-still-in-the-zone-so), but it's basically Kagami getting stuck in the Zone after a match and needing Kuroko to yank him out.  
> Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this. Thanks for reading!

Kuroko’s first thought was that an atomic bomb had gone off in the stadium; complete and utter silence except for the _swish_ of the basket and the blast of the final buzzer. One second, two, three… then a sudden onslaught of sound, his ears ringing as his vision began to blur from tears forcing their way from his eyes. 

Screams, screaming everywhere. The distant sound of Riko sobbing aloud, of Hyuuga roaring his triumph to the ceiling and the dull thud of Kiyoshi’s knees as he fell to the ground, his legs failing him. The joy of his team was so distant… All Kuroko could see was the red-head in front of him, still hanging from the rim of the basket, his knuckles white around metal, head bowed low between his shoulders, basketball forgotten as it bounced across the court. 

Kagami seemed to be frozen in the air ( _But then, Kagami-kun_ is _stubborn enough to defy gravity itself_ , Kuroko thought, his mind slow and dazed), his momentum causing his legs to swing before his hands finally opened and he landed, knees bent to absorb the impact. His shoulders were hunched, bangs falling into his blazing eyes. 

And oh god, his _eyes_ … they were lit from behind with fire, but were blank and sightless, like an inferno behind frosted glass. His stance was low, back curved and arms hanging down between his knees and his hands steady, despite the constant twitch of his fingers. Kuroko took a shaking step forward, his hand reaching out to touch, to shake Kagami, anything to get the blank expression off his face. _(Not your face, only mine, you can’t be blank, you can’t)_

“Kagami-kun…” he started before his was tackled from behind, staggering against the weight of Izuki clinging to his neck like a limpet, his voice hoarse in his ear as he chanted “We won, we won, we won!” Another body threw its arms around him, Hyuuga this time, glasses eschew and his smile blinding; Mitobe crying as he laughed aloud, Koga with one arm around him and another fist raised; Furihata, Kawagara and Fukuda jumping up and down and shouting as they pulled Kiyoshi to his feet and helped him limp over. The whole team, sharing their joy at finally, _finally_ being the champions.

Except Kagami. He hadn’t moved an inch. Hadn’t looked away from the sightless place in front of him, eyes staring at a million miles away where none of them could reach him. He seemed to be vibrating, energy rolling under his skin like thunder as his fingers kept up their dance between his knees, twitching for the rough touch of a basketball.  
Kuroko extracted himself from his teammates and closed the distance between them before placing a pale hand against Kagami’s arm. His skin was burning under his palm. 

“Kagami-kun. Kagami-kun, we’ve won,” he croaked out, aware that there were tears falling down his face, a smile threatening to escape across his usually stoic face despite his growing concern. He wasn’t the only one, it seemed; Hyuuga was staring at the freshman in question, the smile slowly sliding off his face at his lack of reaction. 

“Oi, Kagami! We’re the champions! You did it. Smile, why don’t you?” he shouted loudly, clapping him soundly on the shoulder. The red-head rocked forward on the balls of his feet, showing no outward reaction other than lowering his head further, eyes still blazing with a far-off light. “Hey, Kagami! Look at me!” 

“Kagami-kun…” Kuroko muttered once more as the rest of the team fell upon their ace, calling his name, asking if he was okay, saying that they’d won, wasn’t Kagami happy? It all fell on deaf ears before Riko pushed her way through and crouched in front of him, hands on her knees as she stared into his eyes, her brow pinched with concern. 

“Guys, let’s get him over to the benches,” she instructed, taking Kagami’s large hand in her own small one as she tried pulling him forward. He followed on auto-pilot, his pace picking up as Izuki and Koga each threw an arm around their shoulders, peering cautiously into his face. Kuroko trailed behind closely, eyes never leaving the unruly red hair bobbing between the two other boys. They deposited him on the bench and pressed a bottle of water into his hands as Riko knelt, her hands on Kagami’s legs as she called his name softly. She snapped her fingers in his face, her face becoming more and more concerned as there was no reaction. 

“It’s like he can’t even see me…” she said to the team, chewing her lip thoughtfully. No-one said a word, each person showing a look of horror on their faces. What could it mean? What had happened against Akashi that was caused Kagami to temporarily check out, leaving all of his friends behind? Kuroko drew up behind Riko, his eyes darting over the boy’s face, looking for something, _anything_ that would convince him that his Kagami was in there, that any moment he would snap out of whatever trance he’d put himself in and grin, his eyes scrunched up as he crowed at their victory. 

Trance…

“He’s still in the Zone,” Kuroko said, realisation dawning on him. Of course he was. Of _course_. Kagami had been so determined to carry them home, had pushed himself past the five minute limit of the Zone and had been in that unstoppable state for double the time, storming across the court like a hurricane for the whole of the final quarter. He had been running on complete instinct, animalistic in his movements and terrifying enough to even make Akashi falter in his absolute control of the game. Each dunk had been poetic in its perfection, and Kuroko remembered a feeling of dread as he watched Kagami dive into the sixth minute of his Zone, knowing there would be repercussions before getting swept up by the desire to win. 

“Eh?! But the game is over! He doesn’t need to be in the Zone anymore!” Koga exclaimed, laying his hand on Kagami’s shoulder and shaking him roughly. Nothing. 

“I don’t think he can hear you,” Kiyoshi rumbled, rubbing his knee and wincing. Hyuuga pushed him down beside Kagami, muttering about _not doing yourself anymore damage, idiot._

Kuroko ignored them all. He carefully nudged Riko out of the way and took her place, kneeling in front of Kagami and staring deep into his eyes. 

“Kagami-kun.” Nothing. 

“Kagami-kun, it’s over. You can come back.” Nothing. 

Fingertips trembling, Kuroko reached out and brushed the hair from Kagami’s forehead, his fingers running down the side of Kagami’s face before setting his palm over the boys cheek, his fingers dipping into the hair at his temples as his other hand came up to cup the other side. Breathing deeply and willing down the furious blush that threatened to stain his own pale cheeks, he leant forward and pressed his forehead against Kagami’s, keeping his eyes open as he stared into the red irises in front of him. 

“Kagami-kun, please. It’s over. Come back. Come back to me, Kagami-kun,” he whispered, his breath fanning over Kagami’s lips, a teardrop transferring from his cheek to the other’s burning face. “You did it. You really did it. You beat them all. You can rest now, Kagami-kun. You just need to come back to me…” 

The rest of the team looked on, shock and surprise on some faces (the three freshmen), and a resounded _finally_ from others (Hyuuga, Riko and Kiyoshi). They shared a look and loosely formed a circle around their aces, defending them from the cameras and crowd as Kuroko kept trying to bring his light back out of his own darkness, his voice low and soft as one of his hands began carding through Kagami’s hair, the other reaching for the red-head’s larger hand, lacing their fingers together.

A minute past. Then two. Kuroko never stopped calling, didn’t look away from the distant eyes a mere inch from his own, his hand restless in the others hair. He could feel his heart hammering, fear beginning to worm it’s way into his mind, afraid that whatever psychological battle Kagami had to have with himself to tap into a limitless source of power to defeat Akashi was somewhere so deep inside even Kuroko’s pleas couldn’t drag him out. But he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t. Couldn’t leave Kagami there, never speak to him again, to finally cash in on the bet he made with himself to tell Kagami everything if they won the Winter Cup… 

Kagami’s eyes flickered. Kuroko’s hand faltered in its constant petting, his mouth stuttering over the words pouring between his lips before he began repeating again with earnestness, pressing his forehead harder against the other’s. 

“Kagami-kun, I know you can hear me. Please don’t ignore me, it’s rude. Please, Kagami-kun. Please. 

Taiga. 

Taiga, come back to me.” 

The red-head drew in a breath like he’d been drowning. He blinked, and the shutters were lifted. His eyes focused on the wide blue ones in front of him, the burning intensity finally bleeding from the red to be replaced with a warm glow. 

“Ku-Kuroko…?”

“Yes, Kagami-kun. I’m here.”

“Did you…did you call me by my first name?”

There was a beat of silence before Kuroko burst out laughing, his fingers squeezing over Kagami’s. He swore he felt them squeeze back. Stretching up on his knees, he pulled Kagami forward off the bench, his legs splaying on either side of the shorter boy as he slotted his head under his chin, hugging Kagami fiercely to his chest. He wondered if he could hear his heart hammering. He hoped so. 

“Kagami-kun was very rude. He was ignoring me.” A pause. “I thought you couldn’t hear me. You were gone.” His arms tightened. “I thought…” 

Kagami brought his own arms up and put them around Kuroko’s waist, pressing them close and breathing out a sigh against his neck as he slumped against the boy’s body. 

“I heard you, Kuroko. I came back.”

_I won’t leave again._

“You need to work on your manners, Kagami-kun.” 

_Please. I don’t know what to do without you._

“Kuroko? Did we win?” 

_Did we do it together? Like we promised?_

“Yes. We won, Kagami-kun.” 

_Just like we promised._

Another sigh, and Kuroko felt Kagami smile against his skin. He pressed his cheek into red hair and allowed himself to smile as well. He felt Kagami worm his pinky finger between the top of his shorts and his jersey, stroking the skin of his back and causing a curl of heat to blossom in his belly. There would be time to act on that, he was certain. He would tell Kagami his feelings, about how much he needed him and that there was nothing they couldn’t do together, no mountain they could scale and by god didn’t Kagami _see_ how much Kuroko was in love with him- 

“Kuroko!” 

“Hm?” Kuroko leant back and looked down at the boy in front of him, and wasn’t that the strangest thing, to be looking down on his light who was squinting up at him with a smile that made Kuroko’s heart leap. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” 

Snorting, Kagami shuffled slightly on the floor before pulling Kuroko back into his embrace, setting his head on his shoulder and nosing at the skin of his throat. “Can we stay here, just for a moment? I, uh, don’t think I can stand up.” 

Kuroko huffed before sitting back comfortably on his ankles, one hand pressed against the back of Kagami’s neck and the other slung low around his middle. There was no-where else he’d rather be.


End file.
